


As It Was

by ObliqueOptimism



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [4]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Bad Things Happen Bingo, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Implied/Referenced Torture, Sober Klaus Hargreeves, it's all my fault
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:41:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22622716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObliqueOptimism/pseuds/ObliqueOptimism
Summary: With sobriety the ghosts are back. Klaus is sadly, used to it. Ben? Not so much.
Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1603255
Comments: 33
Kudos: 271





	As It Was

**Author's Note:**

> for the bad things bingo: it's all my fault

It had been a month as of yesterday. 

A month of talking himself out of sneaking out, of going to get some goddamn peace and quiet, to calm not only the dead but his cravings. A month of getting used to the itch under his skin, the proud look in their eyes, of trying to find Dave.

He had yet to find Dave.

Instead he had the support of Ben. And the others. But Ben was always there to help him keep safe and sane. 

It was odd, remembering how to deal with the ghosts who never quieted. Back to his childhood methods, before he found out that Reggie’s alcohol calmed them, before he broke his jaw and found out drugs did more than calming them, that drugs made silence. No, now it was music blaring and talking louder and forcing himself to focus on other activities. 

He was going pretty good, all things considered.

“Yeah, you are,” Diego nodded, gracing Klaus with a smile. Diego was his distraction at the time. There were

_many_

ghosts hanging out with them.

Like a big ol’ sleepover where no one slept and they were rowdy and they _wouldn’t shut up._

But.

He was used to it. Sure, out of practice from the years of drugged silence, but _used to it._

Constant sound and stimulation is a form of torture. Just a fun fact.

“It is?” Diego questioned.

Oh yes. And he was _so good_ at withstanding torture. Maybe that was why Cha-Cha and Hazel had such a hard time breaking him? He’d withstood forms of torture his whole life, afterall.

“I’m still sorry, bro. Wish we had noticed you were missing sooner,” Diego patted him on the shoulder.

Sooner? No. Then he wouldn’t have met Dave.

“Dave was worth the torture, huh?” 

Dave was worth

_everything_.

Afterall, he was sober to see Dave again and being sober brought the other ghosts. More than just Ben. And thus being sober was literal torture.

“It’s that bad huh? The yelling?”

Of course it was. But he could deal. It was like putting on one of Allison’s skirts. A snug fit, but a bit ill fitting, clinging to the wrong spots. But did that ever stop him from wearing her outfits? 

No.

He could deal with the torture.

After all

_he was used to it._

Ben,

however, 

_was not._

Klaus looked to Ben who was staring at them, eyes dazed and a little out of focus. He’d gotten lost in the noise again. It was tough to stay present. They were just _so loud_ and they never stopped. 

He needed to snap Ben out of it.

Ben blinked slowly at Klaus making jokes about him, Diego frowning but not scolding him. Ben finally looked at him. There’s his favorite ghost brother.

“I’m your only ghost brother,” Ben tried to smirk. His lips trying and failing. He glanced to the side. He shouldn’t do that. Don’t look at them. 

Never look at them.

“Right. I forgot,” Ben sighed, reaching _up_ and pressing _down_ on his temples. As if trying to stop a headache from forming. Could ghosts get headaches? _”Yes_ , we apparently can.” He shot a glare at the others.

Forgot the rule again! Never look at them.

“Are they that bad?” Diego questioned. “You can’t look at them?”

Looking at them makes them feel special. Look, now they have some attention. Time to yell louder yet. No one wants that. No need to add to the torture. Ben needed to stop looking at them. Only look at Klaus or Diego.

“Yeah, Ben, bud. Just pay attention to us,” Diego said to the chair Klaus said Ben was sitting in. He wasn’t looking right at Ben’s face, but he was close.

Ben rested his face in his hands, “It’s so hard. _Fuck._ ”

Klaus knew,

he knew how hard it was. 

He just was used to it.

He didn’t really want Ben to get used to it.

Ben though, he was not handling it well. He hadn’t been. The first few days, when they started showing up and screaming and yelling and pulling at Klaus-- Ben didn’t like how they were after Klaus’s attention. But slowly, he began to realize

that

they

won’t

stop.

Ben started to disassociate. Klaus would talk him through it. Ben started to have panic attacks. Klaus would talk him through it. Ben would yell back at them, very angry. Klaus would talk him through it.

Ben would plead at them, break down, only for Klaus to have to help him through it, calm him down. He wished he could do more for Ben. He tried banishing the ghosts over and over but he still had no luck. He usually hung out where there were less around to haunt him-- 

_haunt them._

But it wasn’t working the best.

Drugs would work.

“What? No. A month sober, remember?” Diego patted him on the back.

But he had to think about Ben. Ben couldn’t withstand the torture. It was all Klaus’s fault that his brother had to go through this with him. It was slowly breaking Ben. He was a ghost of himself. Not even when he first showed up to Klaus, freshly dead and unable to understand what was happening, was he like this.

He’d go mad like the other’s before too long.

Klaus would finally lose his brother. He would be like his other siblings, a ghost of Ben that wasn’t actually their brother hanging over their heads.

Only Klaus would see him, all the time, following him around like the other ghosts.

That bit of torture would maybe get Klaus.

But Klaus didn’t want that to happen. He wanted to help Ben.

It was all his fault. 

But if he found a way to stop his powers from working right, a way to silence the other ghosts, maybe he could help Ben.

Drugs and drink he knew worked, but then he wouldn’t be able to find Dave. He didn’t know of any other way to get rid of the other ghosts, keep them away from Ben. Not while Klaus could also function and live his life. 

He frowned deeply as he watched Ben start to go into a panic attack as the one Ben had looked at kicked it up a notch. He flinched when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Ben’s not handling it well?” Diego asked.

No. 

Not at all.

And Klaus wished he could do more to help his brother. 

But Klaus did one thing well.

Disappointment.

He was always a failure, always would be.

And right now he was failing his favorite brother. The one who had been there for him, both in life and in death. But now? 

There was nothing Klaus could do to help.

And it was 

all his fault.

_Ben screamed._

**Author's Note:**

> obliqueoptisim @ tumblr


End file.
